thiru's blog

On Monday, 2 May 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened the 2016 open-ended member states meeting of the Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development: Financing and Coordination (CEWG). The 2016 CEWG is chaired by Bhanu Pratap Sharma, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. The Vice-Chair is Tania Dussey- Cavassini, Vice-Director General, Ambassador for Global Health, Federal Office of Public Health, Switzerland.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is convening an open-ended meeting of member states on the Follow-up of the report of the Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development: Financing and Coordination (CEWG) in Geneva, Switzerland at WHO headquarters from 2 May 2016 to 4 May 2016. The WHO has published the provisional agenda, the proposed program of work and progress report.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is convening its 17th session of the Committee on Intellectual Property and Development (CDIP17) from 11 April 2016 to 15 April 2016. The mandate of the Committee is to "develop a work-program for implementing the 45 adopted Development Agenda recommendations" and "monitor, assess, discuss and report on the implementation of all recommendations adopted" (Source: WIPO page on the Committee on Development And Intellectual Property).

On Thursday, 7 April 2016, Dr. Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa, delivered a keynote address at the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) International Conference on Intellectual Property and Development.

On compulsory licensing, in relation to voluntary licensing, the Minister remarked:

In a sternly worded letter dated 18 February 2016, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (the Chamber) and the United States Council for International Business (USCIB) wrote Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican - Utah) expressing serious reservations with the United Nations High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines (UN HLP).

In early March 2016, the World Trade Organization's (WTO) TRIPS Council discussed "Intellectual Property and Innovation: Education and Diffusion". The following delegations co-sponsored discussion of this item on Education and Diffusion - Australia, European Union, Switzerland, United States, Japan, Singapore, Peru, Russian Federation, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong China.

On Thursday, 11 February 2016, five groups including Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), Oxfam, Stop AIDS, Third World Network (TWN) and Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) sent a letter to Dr. Francis Gurry, Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) highlighting our concerns with statements expressed by WIPO relating to the United Nations Secretary ­General’s High-­Level Panel on Access to Medicines (HLP). To date, we have yet to hear any formal response from WIPO.

KEI intervention: TTIP Stakeholder events Round 12, Brussels (24 February 2016)
A Positive Agenda for TTIP - What we would like to see in the TTIP that would expand access to knowledge?

1) Marrakesh Treaty ratification

The TTIP should include an obligation to ratify and to implement the WIPO Marrakesh Treaty for Persons Who Are Blind for Otherwise Disabled, in order to expand access to accessible works to persons with disabilities in the European Union and the United States, as well as in other countries.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) will convene its Council for TRIPS (TRIPS Council) from Tuesday, 1 March 2016 to Wednesday, 2 March 2016. Australia, the European Union, Switzerland and the United States of America have submitted a written request for the item "Intellectual Property and Innovation: Education and Diffusion" to be placed on the proposed agenda.

WTO/AIR/IP/6
5 FEBRUARY 2016

SUBJECT: COUNCIL FOR TRIPS

THE NEXT MEETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRIPS WILL BE HELD IN THE CENTRE WILLIAM RAPPARD ON 1-2 MARCH 2016. THE MEETING WILL START AT

In May 2014, the 67th World Health Assembly (WHA) of the World Health Organization (WHO) passed Decision WHA67(15) providing WHO the mandate to explore the feasibility of creating a voluntary pooled fund fund on R&D hosted by the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR). The Decision outlined three principles guiding the consideration of the pooled fund:

On Wednesday, 16 December 2015, at the Fourth Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest (National Law University, Delhi, India), Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) will convene a breakout session (led by Jamie Love, Director, KEI) on a WTO Agreement on the Supply of Social Goods.

On Wednesday, 16 December 2015, at the Fourth Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest (National Law University, Delhi, India), Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) will convene a workshop entitled a "WTO Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and the Three-Step Test for Copyright and Related Rights."